Chief Operations Officer, Old National Bancorp
Search every verified Jeff Newcom interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jeff Newcom, chief operations officer at Old National Bank, discussed the evolving role of the COO in a podcast with Protiviti. He said that while the focus on automation, process improvement, and operating models has remained consistent over the past 15 to 20 years, the pace of change has accelerated due to technology and AI. Newcom stated that a significant portion of his recent work has involved assessing whether the organization has the right tools, people, and processes to capitalize on evolving technologies. Newcom noted that his board’s recent focus has included AI, scalability, infrastructure, and operating models, and that discussions have shifted toward strategic topics rather than compliance or review. He said that in banking, a highly regulated industry, the risk appetite for AI is lower than in tech firms, and that the organization is spending more time on governance and piloting use cases rather than execution. Newcom also emphasized that high-performing boards provide value through diverse perspectives and that board discussions are more meaningful when aligned with long-term strategic plans and performance measurement.
“Most organizations and COOs over the last 15 to 20 years were highly focused on things like automation, process improvement, operating models, and with technology and AI and innovation that's just moved at lightning speed. It's a lot of the same types of things, just a lot faster.”
“A significant amount of my time over the last year and a half is really focused on do we have the right tools and technology, do we have the right people, and do we have the right processes to make sure that when those technologies evolve, we can take advantage of those and capitalize on that in an efficient and effect...”
“Our board's focus recently has been around things like AI, but outside of AI, a lot of the questions are really around scale. Do you have the right infrastructure? Do you have the right operating model? Do you have the right people to scale? We're a very competitive industry with a lot of mergers and acquisitions and p...”
“From an operations standpoint, we really try and take people, process, and technology through the lens of the client and how does this impact the client. We're starting to see more clients want to consume our services in different ways. They want to be able to self-serve and get answers really fast without waiting for...”
“Public boards don't have a lot of time with only four quarterly meetings and some committee meetings in between. So you have to make the most out of the time that the board has. The focus has shifted to more strategic topics like scalability, automation, and infrastructure to ensure the right resources and focus to del...”
“High performing boards are very valuable because they have broad exposure and different lenses from various industries. When boards focus on people, capabilities, and strategies, it leads to more value-added dialogue rather than just compliance or review discussions.”
“Boards should focus on how discussions align to the two, three, and five-year strategic plans and how performance is measured against those plans over time. This approach makes board discussions more meaningful and valuable.”
“In banking, which is a highly regulated industry, our risk appetite for AI is probably lower than tech firms. We're spending more time talking about governance opportunities and structure rather than execution. We're piloting use cases to understand if they work, balancing the cost of technology with the ROI and custom...”
Protiviti's David Petrucci discusses the COO transformation with Old National Bank's COO Jeff Newcom.
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